Injured as a passenger in a car accident – Who do I sue?

Were you injured while riding as a passenger in a car or on the back of a motorcycle? If so, you might be faced with the question of who do you sue – or more appropriately, whose insurance company do you file a claim against?

My name is Barry Zlotowicz and I am a Illinois personal injury attorney.

I often get calls from people who were injured as a passenger in a car or motorcycle accident. They always ask, who do you sue? The quick answer is it depends upon who was at fault for the accident.

Chances are you won’t have to “sue” anyone. But the question will arise which driver’s insurance company you should file a claim with. If the driver of the other vehicle was at fault, there is no issue. In a passenger accident you will have the same rights as the person driving your vehicle.

But what happens if the driver of your car was all or partially at fault for the accident? If that’s the case, it could be very complicated as in most of the cases I’ve seen like this, the driver of the car or motorcycle is often the parent, significant other, friend or colleague of the injured party. Filing a claim against their insurance could cause friction in your relationship with that person.

Having said that, if you’re a passenger in a car accident, I think it’s almost always a good idea to file a claim with the driver’s auto insurance company as well. Why? The driver may have medical payments or personal injury protection (PIP) coverage within his auto policy. If that’s the case, every injured party could have their first $2500 or $5000 in medical bills (whatever the policy amount is) paid for. And the passenger might be able to recover for his or her lost wages.

One area where I see a lot of these passenger cases include Uber, Lyft and taxi accidents. If you are injured as a passenger in the back of an Uber or a taxi, you can recover for your injuries. As before, if you’re in an Uber accident lawsuit, the issue will be who caused the accident, the rideshare or taxi driver or the driver of the other car.

As a car accident lawyer, I have been involved in cases where passengers were injured by the negligence of the Uber driver and I’ve had a couple cases where the drivers of an Uber brought a case for injuries they suffered in an accident caused by someone else.

Uber uses James River Insurance Company to handle their driver’s claims. If you need to file a claim with them, click here: http://www.jamesriverins.com/Claims/T...

The same concept applies to bus accidents as well. You just have to figure out who is responsible for the accident, the bus company or the driver of the car the bus collided with.

One thing to be careful about, is if you’re injured because of a bus driver’s negligence. The bus might be owned by the government – a city, county whatever. If that’s the case, you need to file a claim quickly as the timeline to file a claim against a governmental entity is almost always shorter than the regular statute of limitations.

This issue arises with solo vehicle accidents as well. I recently received a call from a very nice woman who was involved in a solo vehicle accident. She admitted to the insurance company that she crashed her vehicle when she bent down while driving to pick something up. Her car flipped and she and her 2 small kids were injured.

In that situation, the woman driver had no claim as she caused the accident. However, both of her children had a claim to file against their own mother for their injuries.

If you were a passenger in a car accident, check out my vlog. Or contact me at [email protected]. If I can’t help you, I’ll find someone who can.